Page 51 of Accidental Blood Lust
I sniff the air, drawing in their mingled scents. Roman’s musky cinnamon scent stirs heat in my gut and makes me feel feral, and Jareth’s earthy lavender scent is love and comfort. Together they smell like home.
They’re both staring at me, waiting for a reaction. I really don’t get the looks on their faces though. This is good news. It’sgreatnews. But Jare looks like he’s getting ready for a root canal and Roman looks guilty and nervous, shifting his weight and keeping his eyes down.
“This is amazing.” My head is still pounding and I’m feeling kind of queasy, but that doesn’t stop any of my enthusiasm.
Jareth winces and Roman’s head snaps up, his eyes flooding with hope and something beautiful and tender as they meet mine.
“It is?” he rasps. “You’re happy?”
“Of course I’m happy.” I fling the blankets off and shuffle down the bed towards them. I reach for Jareth’s hand, sliding my fingers between his. “Now none of us have to be jealous. We can both love Jareth like we always have, but now we don’t have to fight over him. We can love each other too.”
Jareth sputters a laugh. “Honey, I think you’re still a little drunk.”
He tries to tug his hand out of mine, but I tighten my grip and look at Roman for support. He has to see it, right? Fate wouldn’t put us together just to break Jareth’s heart. Fate picked us for each other because it knew we both already loved Jareth enough on our own, without a freaky mate bond.
Roman nods, either agreeing with what I just said or somehow understanding exactly what I’m thinking. Either way, we’re on the same page.
“I imagined the two of you kissing a hundred times. Every time you touched or did that thing where you rub your face on his neck…”
“Scenting,” Roman mumbles, supplying the word.
“Right… and every time I pictured it, I was so fucking jealous I couldn’t breathe.” I look back and forth between the two of them, still clinging to Jareth’s hand so he won’t bolt before I have the chance to convince him how good this really is. “But then yesterday, you two kissed.”
Jareth blushes and Roman gets a look on his face that’s defiant and guilty at the same time.
“In the fae realm,” I remind them. “The memory is hazy, but you kissed, and it was…hot.”
“What’s your point, Loch?” Jare asks quietly. “What does any of this have to do with the bomb I just dropped on you? Roman is your fated mate. You’re right that you don’t have to be jealous of anyone anymore, because he’s all yours. No one can ever take him from you.” His voice cracks and my heart answers with a twinge of pain. Roman lets out a quiet whimper and moves closer to Jareth at the same time.
I shake my head and sit up on my knees. “I want you to kiss again. I want to watch.”
Maybe if I show him how well the three of us can fit together, he’ll believe it.
“This is crazy.” Jareth tries to tug his hand free again, and this time I reluctantly let it go. He rakes his fingers through his hair and looks at Roman with his eyebrows raised and his eyes full of expectations. “Would you talk some sense into him? Explain to him how the whole fated mate thing works.”
“How it works is that I’m biologically driven to give my mate whatever he wants,” Roman growls, and the deep, sexy sound strokes my cock to life and raises goose bumps on my skin. I didn’t even know I could still get goose bumps as a vampire.
Roman moves closer to Jareth and slides an arm around his middle, pulling our mage right up against him. Jareth’s hands land on Roman’s broad chest and I can see the way his fingers curl, digging into the fabric of his shirt and the flesh underneath, his breath hitching and his body visibly shuddering. I can smell the spike of arousal in his scent too, inboththeir scents.
I probe every corner of my mind and heart for the slightest shred of jealousy and find none. All I feel is desire and a desperate kind of hope.
“What about whatIwant?” Jareth whispers.
“Of course I care about what you want. I always have,” Roman assures him, putting two fingers under Jareth’s chin to tilt his head up slightly, bringing their mouths less than an inchfrom each other. I can’t look away from that sliver of space between their lips, from the way their fingers sink into each other like they can’t bear the idea of being separated. “Tell me to stop. Tell me you don’t want this.”
“It’s insane,” he mutters.
“That’s not ‘stop,’” Roman points out.
“It won’t work. Who’s ever heard of a throuple where two of them are fated mates and the other is just some random third wheel?” Jareth huffs.
“You arenotrandom.” I’m on my feet and standing next to them in the blink of an eye. Man, vamp speed is cool. Up close, their combined scents are even more intoxicating.
Jareth scoffs and shakes his head.
“If anyone should kiss, it should be the two of you. As soon as you stop worrying about me and stop fighting fate, you’ll see that everything will be easier if I just leave you alone and let you forget about me.”
“We already kissed, Jare, and it didn’t make either of us forget about you,” Roman says.
